Hand weapon



HAND WEAPON Filed April 30. 1956 INVENTOR. Carl R. Weinert H/S ATTORNEYS HAND WEAPoN Carl R. Weinert, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Federal Laboratories, Inc., Saltsburg, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Y Y Application April so, 1956, sei-iai 581,692

z claims. (ci. 421) This invention relates to a single shot hand weapon for tiring fxed ammunition, particularly gas cartridges.

Although primarily a tear gas gun, the weapon of the present application also embodies the dual function feature of a policemans club of the type generally as shown in expired gun patent U. S. No. 1,598,784. Owing to the fact that such guns are smooth bore weapons within the or 12 gauge range in terms of shotgun standards, it is important that if these guns fall into the wrong hands they do not become death dealing weapons with the mere insertion of a shotgun shell or of other standard ammunition of appropriate size into their cartridge charnber. Compared to the referred to gun in U. S. Patent No. 1,598,784 which employs an electrically fired cartridge and a battery tiring system therefor, the present weapon uses the more conventional percussion firing system, yet embodies novel structure specifically retaining that desired safety feature of ineffectuality with standard percussion ammunition.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which in general:

Figure 1 is a side view, with portions broken away, showing my weapon embodied in a policemans club, and

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary showing of a broken away portion of Figure 1.

More specifically in the embodiment of the drawing, I combine a gas gun and policemans club into one weapon consisting of breech and barrel parts 10, 12 with a threaded joint 14 therebetween and an included chamber 16 to receive a cartridge 18 of fixed ammunition. The breech part 10 has a cocking plunger 20 which at its outer end carries a pull knob 22 to cock the weapon. A firing button 24 at the side of the breech part has a retractable cover 26 serving as its safety guard and sliding between safety and firing positions between a pair of guide' plates 28 aixed to the breech part. The breech part 10 has a v tubular metal case 30 containing a breech block 32 secured to the interior thereof and having a centrally disposed firing pin aperture 34. At one end of the aperture 34 the breech block 32 is counterbored to define a stop shoulder 36 for the stop collar 38 on a round pointed tiring pin 40. ,The tiring pin 40 has a firing pin plunger 42 surrounded by a firing spring 44 engaging an abutment 46 which is carried by the firing pin plunger 42. The outside of the breech block 32 has an undercut cylindrical portion 48 terminating in a transverse annular shoulder 50 which abuts a portion of the shell 18 and which has a central recess providing a socket 52 to receive another portion of the shell 18. The firing pin aperture 34 intersects the floor of therecerss 52 at the center. The full path of travel of the tiring pin V40 is from the solid line position shown in Figure 2 to a limiting point at which the stop parts 36, 38 engage one another and which is indicated by the dotted lines 40a between the oor of the recess 52 and the plane ofthe shoulder portion 50.

The cartridge 18 has a cylindrical ca se with an open 25,861,373 Patented Nov. 25, 1958 end 54 which may be partially spun over and a closed breech end 56. It may be made as a unitary assembly by press fitting a plug in one of the open ends of a metal tube, but preferably this shell case is a one-piece aluminum extrusion of uniform diameter generally throughout its length and pierced at the thick walled;breech end which constitutes all .that remains of the parent aluminum slug which Vunderwent extrusion'. The cartridge 18 has a self-'contained charge 5S therein consisting of areal section of propellant powder and a longer section of gas charge powder which liberates tear gas when fired. An intermediate-wafer of wadding 59 separates the propellant powdersection from the long front section of, gas

charge powder which further has an end wafer of `wad-' ding 60 at the front to retain it in the shell after being loaded through the open end 54 and compacted. Externally thereof, the closed breech end of the cartridge 18 carries a circular rear rim 62 and a center boss 64 which protrudes axially beyond the rear of the radially protruding rim and is socketed in the center recess 52 in the breech block 32. Internally, the closed breech end 56 carries avanged primer 66 permanently socketed in a center bore in the boss 64 in alignment with the firing pin aperture V34 and extending rearwardly beyond the plane of the rim 62 so as to be directly-across the path of travel of the firing pin 40.

The barrel part 12 includes a cylindrical tube 68 having an outer shoulder 70 which positively abuts the breech part 10 and an inner shoulder 72 which confronts the annular shoulder 50 on the breech block 32, the confronting shoulders being arranged to clamp the shell 18 with the rear rim 62 thereof in theplane therebetween. The cylindrical tube 68 carries a tapered sleeve 74 disposed on the outside thereof and covered by a series of leather rings 76.

In operation of the Weapon, the operator retracts the pull knob 22 to cock the weapon and depresses the firing button 24 to fire it. After discharge, the breech and barrel parts are unscrewed at the joint 14 and the operator slips out the old cartridge and inserts a new one. Conceivably, standard ammunition from the shelf of a hardware store may be inserted in the weapon in place of the cartridge 18. Although each such cartridge is basically a round of center re ammunition like the cartridge 18, the firing pin 40 will not fire the standard ammunition because its travel is interrupted due to the engagement between the stop shoulder 36 and the stop collar 38 which bottoms yand thus limits forward travel of the firing pin 40. The shape of the recess 52 is not critical so long as the center boss 64 on the cartridge 18 can readily be socketed therein and they both may be round or else polygonal or otherwise noncircular in shape. The offset of the center boss and the primer 66 beyond the plane of the rim 62 is important, however in order that the latter primer 66 will extend toa point in the path of travel of the firing pin 40. So long as the socket and boss 64 are provided, other firing means such as a hammer of the revolver type may be used.

While I have described certain presently preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it may be otherwise vembodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a policemans club breech chamber construction, the combination of a shell in the chamber, said shell having a firing primer and a rim at the rear and a centrally disposed metal primer boss offset behind the rim holding the primer protectively therewithin, and breech and barrel parts detachably joined together to form the cartridge chamber and presenting closely spaced confronting surfaces one with a central recess to exclusively ing the floor of the recess, and arring pintretractable in` the bore from a red position with the point 'occtipying said recess to a cocked positionbehind the mouth of said bore.

of a shell in the chamber, said shell having a ring primer. `and a rim at the rear and a centrally disposed metal primer boss offset behind the rim holding the primer protectivelyl therewithin, and breech and barrel parts detachably connected together tojform the cartridge chamber and presenting closely Vspaced confrontingvsur= faces one with a central recess to exclusively receive the primer boss, each part having a shoulder portion'otfset 2. In a breech chamber construction, the combinatii'lnv from s-aid central recess and cooperating with thev other shoulder portion to clamp the shell with the rim thereof in a plane immediately therebetween, said breech part carrying a firing pin and further having a registering ring pin bore with its mouth" intersecting the floor of the recess, and stop means to permanently limit forward travel of the pin to a point between the floor of the recess and the corresponding rim `clarrlping shoulder.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 14, 1919 

